Women’s Impact ’06

Introduction

Variety occasionally gets flak for singling out women in an industry that has seemingly achieved parity between the sexes — seemingly being the operative word. Women in showbiz have made great strides to be sure — even in the eight short years that this publication has been celebrating their accomplishments in our feature reports. But while women have gained the edge in the executive suites at the networks and in cable, and in such disparate areas as casting and costume design, proclaiming “parity” overall is premature at best. As long as professionals like Katie Couric and Deepa Mehta are breaking ground, then there’s news to be gleaned, and lessons to be learned.